About Us

The Council promotes diversified local and regional foods systems that are healthy, safe, economically sound, and environmentally sustainable, through education and research.

VALUES

Knowledge: Food and agriculture is a complex system that involves humans, animals, plants, soil, and water. Our health, safety, economic well-being, and environment are all impacted by different farming methods and the dynamics of food production and consumption.

Empowerment: We seek to empower individuals to make good decisions, for themselves as individuals and for society, in what they grow and eat.

Resilience: Natural and social conditions are not static, nor homogeneous. We look for information and solutions on how to build a food and agricultural system that is resilient over time, creating a sustainable environment that does not reduce the capacity to provide for future generations. Resilient farming meets the food needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Community: Food and agricultural systems involve social, governmental, and community elements. We address how food systems affect, and are affected by, local, regional, national, and international government policies, market forces, and cultures.

Education: In order to make optimal choices, people need access to comprehensible information and knowledge.

Diversity: Our members come from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs. Food is not a liberal or conservative issue, it is a human issue.

Accountability and Transparency: Too many laws and regulations have been made by people doing the bidding of large corporations, often acting behind closed doors. Governments should be transparent, accessible and accountable to the people, and receptive to strong formal producer and consumer advocacy.

Integrity: We say what we mean and mean what we say. Our positions are based upon the latest research and practice, albeit constantly evolving, not speculation. We work to empower people to act, not out of fear, but out of knowledge.

ACTIVITIES

The Council’s activities fall into two main categories: education and research.

Education Activities:

The Council develops written and audio-visual educational materials about the health, safety, economic, and environmental impacts of different food systems, from production to consumption. The materials also address the impacts and interrelationships of government policies, market forces, and culture on food systems, from production to distribution and consumption.

We will develop original materials, along with relaying previously existing information, on topics such as: food safety on small and sustainable farms; genetically engineered crops; ecological, political, cultural and economic aspects of sustainable farming; examples of farming and food systems from other countries; effects of climate change on different types of farming systems; and food security. The materials will initially be developed by the Board members and other volunteers, based on their areas of expertise. Once we have funding for staff, staff members will work with the volunteer Board members in the development of materials.

The materials will be distributed through the Council’s website and other internet venues, social media, at conferences and meetings, and through grassroots networks such as farmers markets. The Council will also cooperate with other non-profit organizations to share the educational materials.

Research Activities: The Foundation’s research activities will be two-pronged.

First, the Council will seek out existing research and information related to the topics previously highlighted in our educational activities: biology, nutrition, animal health, plant health, soil health, water use and management, law and policy, cultural food systems, and economics, as they relate to different food systems, from production to consumption. The Council will seek to develop a clearinghouse of information on these issues as they relate to diversified food systems.

Second, the Council will establish a research fund to undertake research projects directly and to provide grants to outside researchers on these topics. Projects such as surveys of farmers and consumers or case studies may be conducted directly by the Council; research that would require specialized technology or equipment will be conducted through outside grants. The Council will establish an internal review board to determine priorities and grant recipients.

The results of the research will be shared through the Council’s educational activities, discussed above.